Afshin Afshar (lastkick.com) – Halfway through Match Day 2 of the AFC Champions League, Iranian teams are still in good standing.

Esteghlal 0-0 Al Jazira

Esteghlal settled for a single point at home; although they could have and should have done better. They had the home field advantage and had a numerous clear looks at the goal. Of course Al-Jazira had their share of chances too.

In his post match comments Esteghlal Coach Samad Marfavi expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance and suggested that injuries and fatigue from a tough domestic schedule had a part in their failure to secure all three points.

For his part Al-Jazira Coach Abel Braga also sighted injuries. He also credited Esteghlal for their strong aerial attack and suggested that they could have defeated his team if they had continued to send in more crosses.

This was the tale of two halves. In the first half Zob-Ahan were timid, unimaginative, and looked uninterested, and Al-Ittihad made them pay for it with two unanswered goals. But some second half the Isfahani side came back to life. A couple of substitutions and some changes in tactic and they scored two unanswered goals of their own and earned a valuable point away in Jeddah.

Coach Mansour Ebrahimzadeh of Zob-Ahan is quietly proving to be one of the better coaches in Iran. In the post match press conference Ebrahimzadeh credited his teams near impossible comeback to their ability to calm down and recollect themselves after a very nervous first half. He complemented Al-Ittihad for strength and experience, and hoped that his team can live up to the challenge and manage to qualify from the group.

For the rest of the results and standings at the end of Tuesday click here.

Tomorrow Sepahan and Mes of Kerman will get their chance to continue Iranian clubs’ lossless streak against Al-Ain and Al-Hilal in that order.